Urban Transport
TRANSPORT
FASTEST LIFT
Designed by the
Mitsubishi Electric
Corporation (JPN),
the high-speed lift
NexWay travels at a
speed of 73.8 km/h
(45.85 mph).
That makes it
approximately as
fast as a gazelle.
NexWay was installed
in unit OB-3 of the
632 - m-tall (2,073-ft)
Shanghai Tower in
China on 7 Jul 2016.More than half – approximately 55% – of the London Underground
system is actually located overground.TOP 10 LONGEST ROAD NETWORKS
Absolute Distance (km) Per capita (1,000 people) Distance (km)
1 USA 6,586,610 Pitcairn Islands 139.13
2 India 4,699,024 Western Sahara 22.71
3 China 4,1 0 6, 3 87 Cyprus 1 7.8
4 Brazil 1,580,96 4 Saint Pierre and Miquelon 16.26
5 Russia 1,283,387 European Union 1 0.1 4
6 Japan 1,218,7 72 Wallis and Futuna 7.49
7 Canada 1,042,300 Liechtenstein 7.1 9
8 France 1,028,446 Saint Kitts and Nevis 6.67
9 Australia 823,217 Jersey 6.35
10 South Africa 747,0 1 4 American Samoa 6.0
Source: CIA World FactbookFirst escalator
US inventor Jesse W Reno created an escalator
as a temporary amusement ride for the Old
Iron Pier on Coney Island in New York, USA,
in Sep 1895. Reno’s “inclined elevator” had a
vertical rise of 6 ft 10 in (2.1 m) and an inclination
of 25°, with riders sitting astride cast-iron slats
atop a belt moving at 74 ft 9 in (22.8 m) per min.
Approximately 75,000 visitors rode it during its
fortnight-long installation.
The first fully operational spiral escalator
was installed by the Mitsubishi Electric
Corporation at a trade fair site in Osaka, Japan,
in 1985. It was far more complex and expensive
than a straight escalator, owing to multiple
centre points and additional guide rollers.Most escalators in a metro system
The metro subway system of Washington, DC,
USA, has 618 escalators. They are maintained by
the costliest in-house escalator service contract
in North America, with 90 technicians.Longest moving walkway (ever)
The first moving walkway was also the longest
ever. It appeared at the 1893 World’s Columbian
Exposition in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Operated by
the Columbian Movable Sidewalk Company, the
walkway ferried visitors arriving by steamboats,
and ran 1 km (0.6 mi) along a pier and onwards
to the Exposition entrance. It transported up to
31,680 people per hr. Passengers could either
stand while moving at 2 mph (3.2 km/h) or sit on
benches and travel at 4 mph (6.4 km/h). It was
destroyed by fire in 1894.
The longest moving walkway (current)
in a city is 207 m (679 ft) long, and is located
below the parks and gardens of The Domain in
Sydney, Australia. Officially opened on 9 Jun
1961, and constructed by the Sydney Botanic
Gardens Trust as a futuristic novelty, it was
rebuilt in 1994. The walkway is gently inclined
and moves at 2.4 km/h (1.5 mph), taking slightly
more than 5 min to complete one length.Largest elevator in
an office building (by capacity)
Each elevator car in the Umeda Hankyu
Building in Osaka, Japan, can carry
80 passengers, or a total weight of
5.25 tonnes (11,574 lb). Built by Mitsubishi
in 2009, each cabin is 3.4 m (11 ft 1 in) wide,
2.8 m (9 ft 2 in) long and 2.59 m (8 ft 6 in) tall.Tallest elevator shaft in a building
At 578.5 m (1,898 ft) high, the high-speed
elevator NexWay at the Shanghai Tower Unit
FR/FLH 1 and 2 (see left) is even taller than the
elevator at the Burj Khalifa skyscraper – the
world’s tallest building, in Dubai, UAE.
The elevator at AngloGold Ashanti’s Mponeng
Gold Mine in South Africa’s Gauteng province
drops 7,490 ft (2,283 m) in a single 3-min
descent, making it the tallest elevator shaft.
A second lift then takes miners even lower, to
11,800 ft (3,597 m). Each day, 4,000 workers
are ferried down to the mine in three-level steel
cages, at speeds of up to 40 mph (64.3 km/h).Largest car-sharing market
Innovations in mobile technology have led to a
huge growth in car-sharing networks around the
world. As of Oct 2014, Europe was the world’s
largest car-sharing market, accounting for 46%
of global membership (or 2,206,884 users) and
56% of the world’s car fleet.Highest use of public transport in a city
Hong Kong is one of the world’s most densely
populated cities, with up to 57,120 persons per
km^2 (more than twice as dense as Manhattan’s
26,000 persons per km^2 ). An efficient and
advanced transit system keeps everyone moving.
Some 80% of all transport trips are made by public
transit in the city, where there are 11.3 million
public transit passenger boardings daily.Highest “modal split” for bicycles (by city)
The term “modal split” refers to the percentage
of travellers using specific modes of transport,
such as cars or bicycles. Some 50% of all trips
in Groningen, Netherlands, are by bike, rising to
60% in the city centre. The town is known as the
“World’s Cycling City”. In the 1970s, city planners
encouraged non-automotive trips in the city
centre by limiting vehicle movement there, leading
residents to opt for cycling or walking instead.
In terms of promoting bike use via targetted
development of infrastructure, however, the
most bicycle-friendly city is Copenhagen in
Denmark. The Danish capital has seen heavy
investment in cycling facilities (such as new
bicycle bridges and ramps), resulting in a
70% increase in cyclists since 1990, while car
trips in the city centre have decreased by 25%.
The Copenhagenize Index 2015 analysed cycling
data from 122 cities to reach this conclusion.Most expensive taxi ride
According to the 2015 UBS Prices & Earnings
report, the Norwegian capital of Oslo has
the priciest cab journeys. A 5-km (3-mi) trip
costs an average of $32.10 (£21.65). The same
distance taxi ride in New Delhi, India, would
cost just $1.54 (£1.03) – a 20th of the price.Q: Seven of the world’s
10 busiest railway stations
are located in which city?
A: Tokyo, JapanRome’s Colosseum had lifts
to bring wild animals into
the arena. They were raised
and lowered manually by
more than 200 slaves.Elevator music was
introduced in the
1920s to calm nervous
passengers using lifts
for the first timeMirrors were added to
lifts to distract riders
from the slow speeds
of early elevators, and
also to make the space
seem largerPressing the “close”
button rarely makes the
lift doors shut sooner –
the button was added
to give riders the feeling
that they’re in controlThe Otis Elevator
Company transports
the equivalent of the
world’s population
every five daysStatistically, elevators
are one of the safest
forms of transport; it’s
safer to take the lift than
it is to use the stairsBetween
2001 and^ 2010,
the Metropolitan
Transportation
Authority of New York
dropped 2,500 old
subway trains into the
Atlantic Ocean. These
man-made reefs
now teem with
marine^ life.